Powering Change

Ruben Avagyan joins HMS to reduce energy costs, bolster sustainability

Ruben Avagyan

Ruben Avagyan loves the outdoors. On a recent trip to the White Mountains, Harvard Medical School’s new energy manager, who studied geophysics as an undergraduate, was impressed by the Flume, a 90-foot gorge carved into granite by geological processes over the course of hundreds of millions of years.

Avagyan’s fascination with the earth guides his work as energy manager.

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I am an environmentalist,” said Avagyan. “I’d like to preserve Mother Nature for future generations. I want to be part of the solution.”

Avagyan came to the U.S. from Armenia in 2007 to earn a PhD in engineering and industrial management at West Virginia University. After several years in the private sector and five years as campus energy manager at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), he started at HMS in June.

As energy manager, Avagyan explained that his job is to develop “programs and initiatives to reduce energy costs and the impact on the environment” in keeping with Harvard’s goal of becoming fossil fuel-neutral by 2026 and fossil fuel-free by 2050.

Avagyan said he’s ready for the challenge but is first doing his homework on what’s already been accomplished here.

“My goal right now is to study what has been done by my predecessors,” Avagyan said. “We can look at the different systems and platforms and projects they have done. After that we’ll update our strategic energy management plan to tailor it to the university’s greater sustainability objectives.”

Avagyan said he thinks his biggest opportunity will be in guiding how the school procures its energy. Harvard Medical School gets its power, steam for heating, and chilled water from the Medical Area Total Energy Plant (MATEP). While MATEP provides reliable electricity, heating and cooling for the vital functions at HMS and area hospitals, Avagyan recognizes that it imposes certain restrictions on the energy decisions that HMS makes.

“Energy delivery has two components,” he explained. “One component is the actual delivery of the energy to the facilities. The second is the energy itself. We don't have a lot of say when it comes to the distribution, because energy distribution infrastructure (from MATEP) is fixed. But we have a lot to say when it comes to buying actual energy, because energy is being bought and sold on the market. We have the ability to buy that energy ourselves.”

In addition to a new job at a new school, Avagyan is excited to be in a new city.

“I was born in Yerevan (Armenia’s capital), a big city, and I’m used to seeing a lot of people and having a good social life,” Avagyan said. “That was missing at Virginia Tech. When students leave for break, it’s kind of a ghost town.”

While Avagyan and his family are happy to be in Boston, the move has been an adjustment after his years in the South.

“It’s a culture shock. The pace of life is a lot faster. People speak faster. That’s one of my challenges. Slow down your horses, because I can’t keep up with you.”

But like any good geophysicist, Avagyan knows that change takes time.